This invention relates to a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication system for a driver, a communication method using the system, and a recording medium storing a program for executing the method and, in particular, to a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication system preliminarily supplied with a scheduled route for selectively receiving and reproducing a broadcast program adapted to time information and location information at each transit point a communication method using the system, and a recording medium storing a program for executing the method.
In recent years, a car navigation system for use in an automobile becomes increasingly used. An improved car navigation system has a communication function. Specifically, the improved car navigation system acquires various kinds of information, for example, about restaurants or play spots through a portable cellular telephone or a mobile cellular telephone. The information on stores or shops is also available as software in a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Video Disk). However, such information is changeable and the change may be very frequent. Under the circumstances, the car navigation system having a communication function is advantageous in that latest information can be acquired through communication.
For the car navigation system having a communication function, information services specialized in providing information for a driver of the automobile as a user are known. The above-mentioned services assume bi-directional communication between a service provider and the driver.
Apart from the above, xe2x80x9cVehicle Information and Communication Systemxe2x80x9d Information Service is also known. In the xe2x80x9cVehicle Information and Communication Systemxe2x80x9d, it is possible to acquire traffic information such as traffic jam and traffic control or parking information indicative of the availability of a parking space in a parking lot and to display the information on a navigator screen. The xe2x80x9cVehicle Information and Communication Systemxe2x80x9d utilizes two types of beacon signals, namely, light and radio waves transmitted from beacon sources arranged along a highway, and a wide-band FM (Frequency Modulation) radio wave. The above-mentioned service is presented via a one-way or unidirectional communication from the service-provider to the driver.
In the world of the Internet, a so-called PUSH technique is popularly used. For example, PointCast (see: www.pointcast.com) provided a service called xe2x80x9cPointCast Networkxe2x80x9d. The mechanism of the xe2x80x9cPointCast Networkxe2x80x9d is as follows. The user or the driver preliminarily registers in his PC (Personal Computer) the types of desired information he requires. Then, the user""s PC automatically accesses via the Internet to a WWW server of the xe2x80x9cPointCast Networkxe2x80x9d at predetermined cycles (for example, once an hour or once a day) to acquire the latest information on the WWW server and to display the information on the user""s PC. Thus, an uncontrolled, continuous, and nonstop effluence of related information corresponding to the desired information he selected is automatically supplied to the user for his review and observation.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) No. H08-191255 discloses a technique relating to a FM multiplex broadcasting receiver for receiving multiplex broadcasting and selecting desired information relating to a local area included in a route between a current location and a destination point to supply the desired information to a navigator. Specifically, the navigator preliminarily supplies the FM multiplex broadcasting receiver with an area code indicative of the local area included in the route from the current location of an automobile to the destination point. Then, from a plurality of area information extracted from the multiplex broadcasting through an antenna, a FM reception circuit, a filter, a demodulation circuit, and an error correction circuit, the microcomputer selectively extracts the desired information relevant to the area code specified by the navigator and supplies the desired information through a communication interface to the navigator.
The technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) No. H08-191255 has a problem that location information corresponding to the current location of the automobile can not be obtained with high accuracy.
In the above-mentioned technique, an adaptive program is selected by comparing location information included in the content of each broadcast program with location information related to the route preliminarily stored in a memory. With this structure, a different program which is not adapted to the current location of the automobile may possibly be selected.
In order to realize an ideal service mode for many drivers, it is required to provide selected information matching the situation or the desire of each individual user. Since most of the users are drivers, a user interface should be as simple as possible. If possible, it is convenient to provide the information as an uncontrolled, continuous, and nonstop effluence without requiring any user""s operation.
The above-mentioned user interface is a one-way interface such as radio broadcasting. With such user interface, a series of information required for the driver at the current location, at the current time instant, and in the current situation is selected and automatically announced or displayed in the manner similar to the radio broadcasting. For example, the driver is given the information xe2x80x9cMcDonald is nearbyxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cFirework festival will start in an hour in this cityxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cIf you go out through the second exit, you will find a gas stationxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cAround the noon, you will pass XX where a two-star French restaurant is availablexe2x80x9d. In this event, the driver is not required to operate the navigator at all.
At present, the above-mentioned information service adaptable to every individual user is not available as far as the car navigation system is concerned. Even if such information service is provided, the bidirectional communication function is required. Disadvantageously, this results in an increase in cost on the side of the user.
In order to realize the above-mentioned information service adaptable to every individual user, the user should register the types of the information he requires while the service provider should provide the user exclusively with the information requested by the user. If only the information required for the user is presented, the user need not to tell his desire in an on-demand fashion. As a result, the user interface is simplified.
The above-mentioned xe2x80x9cPointCastxe2x80x9d is a technique intended to satisfy such requirements. At a first glance, the xe2x80x9cPointCastxe2x80x9d seems like television broadcasting. However, the television broadcasting is addressed to unspecified recipients or audiences while the xe2x80x9cPointCastxe2x80x9d exclusively presents particular information of the type selected by each individual user. In other words, the xe2x80x9cPointCastxe2x80x9d is broadcasting customized for each individual user. However, the xe2x80x9cPointCastxe2x80x9d is operated by the use of the communication and the user""s PC must access the WWW server. If the service is used in the automobile through the portable cellular telephone, charges for the portable cellular telephone are inevitably required.
It is an object of the present invention to realize a PUSH-type information providing mechanism which is adapted for a driver moving from time to time and from place to place with a desired content variable and which does not use a communication infrastructure but uses a broadcasting infrastructure such as digital satellite radio broadcasting or digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted for unspecified recipients.
It is a specific object to provide an information providing method in which an itinerary or a route is preliminarily given and a broadcast program adapted to time information and location information at each scheduled transit point is selectively received to provide desired information such as xe2x80x9cGo out through xe2x80x98the next highway exitxe2x80x99 and you will find XX, a favorite restaurantxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cOnly one gas station can be found before arriving xe2x80x9cXXX as a next place of visitxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cFavorite museum will be found xe2x80x98on the way you will pass within one hour""s drive from nowxe2x80x99xe2x80x9d, and so on.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication system which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the system comprising:
a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) in a broadcasting station, which apparatus is for periodically broadcasting a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a favorite storage unit (13) for storing a desired type of information requested by the user;
a route storage unit (14) in which pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points are stored by the user;
a program selector (15) for receiving each of the broadcast programs, for comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type stored in the favorite storage unit, for comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points stored in the route storage unit, and for selecting a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the route storage unit;
a broadcast program storage unit (16) for storing the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a current time instant storage unit (17) for holding a latest value of a current time instant;
a current location storage unit (18) for holding a latest value of current location information;
a reproduction program selector (20) for periodically comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with the latest values held in the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage unit, respectively, and for selecting the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the latest values held in the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage unit; and
a reproduction unit (19) for reproducing the selected broadcast program selected by the reproduction program selector.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication system which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the system comprising:
a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) in a broadcasting station, which apparatus is for periodically broadcasting a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a favorite storage unit (13) for storing a desired type of information requested by the user;
an expanded route storage unit (24) in which pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points are stored by the user, the expanded route storage unit having an actual pass time instant storage area;
a program selector (15) for receiving each of the broadcast programs, for comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type stored in the favorite storage unit, for comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points stored in the expanded route storage unit, and for selecting a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit;
a broadcast program storage unit (16) for storing the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a current time instant storage unit (17) for holding a latest value of a current time instant;
a current location storage unit (18) for holding a latest value of current location information;
a pass information writing unit (25) for writing, into the actual pass time instant storage area of the expanded route storage unit in correspondence to each pass point stored in the expanded route storage unit, an actual pass time instant at which the vehicle actually passes each pass point stored in the expanded route storage unit;
a next time point calculator (22) for calculating, with reference to the expanded route storage unit, a scheduled arrival time instant for the arrival to a next pass point next to a latest pass point at a latest pass time instant before the latest value of the current time instant held in the current time instant storage unit;
a next point calculator (23) for calculating, with reference to the expanded route storage unit, the location of the next pass point on the basis of the latest value of the current location information held in the current location storage unit;
a next-point-adaptive reproduction program selector (21) for periodically comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with calculated result of the next time point calculator and the next point calculator, respectively, and for selecting the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the calculated result of the next time point calculator and the next point calculator; and
a reproduction unit (19) for reproducing the selected broadcast program selected by the reproduction program selector.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication method which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the method comprising:
a first step of making a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) of a broadcasting station periodically broadcast a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a second step of making a favorite storage unit (13) store a desired type of information requested by the user;
a third step of making a route storage unit (14) store pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points by the user;
a fourth step of making a current time instant storage unit (17) hold a latest value of a current time instant;
a fifth step of making a current location storage unit (18) hold a latest value of current location information:
a sixth step of receiving each of the broadcast programs;
a seventh step of comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points of the route storage unit to select a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the route storage unit;
an eighth step of making a broadcast program storage unit (16) store the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a ninth step of periodically comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with the latest values of the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage unit, respectively, to select the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the latest values held in the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage unit; and
a tenth step of reproducing the selected broadcast program.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication method which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the method comprising:
a first step of making a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) of a broadcasting station periodically broadcasting a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a second step of making a favorite storage unit (13) store a desired type of information requested by the user;
a third step of making an expanded route storage unit (24) store pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points by the user, the expanded route storage unit having an actual pass time instant storage area;
a fourth step of making a current time instant storage unit (17) hold a latest value of a current time instant;
a fifth step of making a current location storage unit (18) hold a latest value of current location information;
a sixth step of receiving each of the broadcast programs;
a seventh step of comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit to select a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit;
an eighth step of making a broadcast program storage unit (16) store the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a ninth step of comparing the latest value of the current location information of the current location storage unit with the location of each pass point of the expanded route storage unit, reading, when the vehicle passes a place sufficiently close to a particular one of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit, the latest value of the current time instant from the current time instant storage unit as a read current time instant, and writing, as an actual pass time instant, the read current time instant into the actual pass time instant storage area of the expanded route storage unit in correspondence to the particular one of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit;
a tenth step of calculating, supplied with the latest value of the current time instant from the current location storage unit and with the latest value of the current location information from the current location storage unit, a scheduled pass time instant for a next scheduled pass point of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit and the location of the next scheduled pass point;
an eleventh step of comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with the scheduled pass time instant for the next scheduled pass point and the location of the next scheduled pass point to select the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the scheduled pass time instant for the next scheduled pass point and the location of the next scheduled pass point; and
a twelfth step of reproducing the selected broadcast program.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium recording a program for making a computer execute a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication method which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the method comprising:
a first step of making a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) of a broadcasting station periodically broadcast a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a second step of making a favorite storage unit (13) store a desired type of information requested by the user;
a third step of making a route storage unit (14) store pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points by the user;
a fourth step of making a current time instant storage unit (17) hold a latest value of a current time instant;
a fifth step of making a current location storage unit (18) hold a latest value of current location information;
a sixth step of receiving each of the broadcast programs;
a seventh step of comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points of the route storage unit to select a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the route storage unit;
an eighth step of making a broadcast program storage unit (16) store the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a ninth step of periodically comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with the latest values of the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage units respectively, to select the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the latest values held in the current time instant storage unit and the current location storage unit; and
a tenth step of reproducing the selected broadcast program, a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication method for selecting, from digital satellite radio broadcasting or digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the method comprising:
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium recording a program for making a computer execute a route-adaptive on-demand radio communication method which is for a user of a vehicle and which is for providing, by making use of one of digital satellite radio broadcasting and digital surface wave radio broadcasting simultaneously broadcasted to unspecified recipients, the user with particular information matching a current time instant and a current location of the vehicle and matching desired information preliminarily registered by the user, the method comprising:
a first step of making a digital broadcasting apparatus (11) of a broadcasting station periodically broadcasting a plurality of broadcast programs by making use of the one of the digital satellite radio broadcasting and the digital surface wave radio broadcasting, each of the broadcast programs comprising a program content, a type information representative of a content type of the program content, and time information representative of a time zone during which the program content is valid, and location information representative of a location where the program content is valid;
a second step of making a favorite storage unit (13) store a desired type of information requested by the user;
a third step of making an expanded route storage unit (24) store pass points in a route, locations of the pass points, and a time interval required between every adjacent ones of the pass points by the user, the expanded route storage unit having an actual pass time instant storage area;
a fourth step of making a current time instant storage unit (17) hold a latest value of a current time instant;
a fifth step of making a current location storage unit (18) hold a latest value of current location information;
a sixth step of receiving each of the broadcast programs;
a seventh step of comparing the type information of each of the broadcast programs with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and comparing the location information of each of the broadcast programs with the location of each of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit to select a matched one of the broadcast programs that has the type information coincident with the desired type of the favorite storage unit and the location information coincident with the location of each of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit;
an eighth step of making a broadcast program storage unit (16) store the matched one of the broadcast programs as a stored broadcast program;
a ninth step of comparing the latest value of the current location information of the current location storage unit with the location of each pass point of the expanded route storage unit, reading, when the vehicle passes a place sufficiently close to a particular one of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit, the latest value of the current time instant from the current time instant storage unit as a read current time instant and writing, as an actual pass time instant, the read current time instant into the actual pass time instant storage area of the expanded route storage unit in correspondence to the particular one of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit;
a tenth step of calculating, supplied with the latest value of the current time instant from the current location storage unit and with the latest value of the current location information from the current location storage unit, a scheduled pass time instant for a next scheduled pass point of the pass points of the expanded route storage unit and the location of the next scheduled pass point;
an eleventh step of comparing the time information and the location information of the stored broadcast program of the broadcast program storage unit with the scheduled pass time instant for the next scheduled pass point and the location of the next scheduled pass point to select the stored broadcast program as a selected broadcast program when the stored broadcast program has the time information and the location information coincident with the scheduled pass time instant for the next scheduled pass point and the location of the next scheduled pass point; and
a twelfth step of reproducing the selected broadcast program.